Nike sells Bauer Hockey for $200 Million

February 21st, 2008

Nike Inc. has sold its Bauer Hockey subsidiary for US$200 million to an investor group led by Montreal businessman Graeme Roustan and U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg & Co.

The American athletic-goods giant, which acquired what it describes as hockey’s leading manufacturer in 1995, said Thursday it is pleased to have struck a deal with “strategic buyers who have a passion for hockey and are committed to continue to invest in Bauer’s long-term growth and brand leadership.”

Roustan, through private holding company Roustan Inc., places equity investments primarily in the arena business and aviation industry.

Kohlberg & Co., with offices in New York and California, has invested US$2 billion across six private equity funds.

Bauer, in business since 1927, is said to have developed the first skate with the blade attached to the boot, and it claims a No. 1 position in the hockey market.

Nike did not release specifics Thursday on Bauer’s sales and profitability, but CEO Mark Parker said “its team has done an incredible job.”

The sale, after a strategic review of Nike’s subsidiaries, “was a tough decision but one that was in the best interests of Nike and Bauer as we each look to maximize our respective growth opportunities,” Parker stated.

“Bauer is the most coveted hockey brand in the world,” said Roustan, who will be chairman of Bauer Hockey.

“It is a personal honour and privilege to have the opportunity to work with the existing dedicated team of professionals at Bauer and support this great company’s continued industry leadership well into the future.”

Bauer will continue to use the Nike Bauer trademark on existing products for up to two years.

Shame they ran the company into the ground… Nike never really brought anything to hockey besides those entertaining goaltender commercials in the 1990’s.

The good news is that Bauer is apparently back in Canadian hands, so maybe there is hope of a rebirth, though with CCM/KoHo getting pushed aside by Rbk, perhaps the few remaining Canadian manufacturers are destined to head the way of Cooper…

Oh, wait, Bauer put Cooper out of business before the Nike takeover ever happened… Sigh…

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Design Next Season’s Third Jersey

February 18th, 2008

My favorite team, the Hartford Wolf Pack, is currently running a contest right now where fans can submit their designs and one of them will be selected as next year’s third jersey.

As a designer myself, I think it’s a shortsighted idea.  Yeah, it’s a good idea to incorporate fan interaction, but realistically, things like this are best left to professionals otherwise they look, well, kinda like what homemade greeting cards look like.

Amateur. 

Sloppy.

And dare I say it… minor league… in an arena football sort of way.

But here’s to hoping there are a few pro quality designers interested in submitted their *un-paid* work for a chance at receiving a wee bit of publicity and zero compensation if they are selected.  Then, and only then, might we have a nice third jersey.

See, odds are stacked heavily against it.

Anyway, I’m sure they’re receiving a lot of tounge-in-cheek submissions like the one I threw together in less than 5 minutes at the top of this post and I hope the “judges” get a chuckle out of the numerous less-than-serious submissions they must be receiving.  I’m sure some are a hoot.

Sadly, though, I’m pretty sure my five minute joke design is probably of a higher quality than 99% of what they’re receiving. 

And I likely should, as a huge fan of the team and jersey collector, put my head down and piece together a top notch design, but you know what? 

I prefer to get paid for my time.

Posted in Hartford Wolf Pack, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Flashback: Byron’s Hockeyland Mailing List

February 8th, 2008

While cleaning out some old boxes from the attic I came across a bunch of all lists from my early days in the hobby. Lists and primitive catalogs from Milt, Meigrey, DHC, and Drop the Gloves from the late 1990’s…

The big headline from Milt in December of 1999 month was:

We are now offering our LIST sent to you Via E MAIL. Current mail list subscribers only. E-mail us your E mail address to get set up for a once a month E mailing, Which replaced the printed copy sent to you. You will be able to get it faster this way. The set up is Microsoft Word.

I thought some of the old time collectors might like to reminisce, and some of the newer collectors would see how we used to do things — via standard snail mail and telephone, so I scanned it in. Thinking back, lists like Milt’s were a gold mine.

My first example of the old days is Byron’s Hockeyland List #131 from December of 1999.

It’s a pretty large download, coming in at 11 megs, but you can print it out and relive the old days and the thrill of the chase.

No one stop shopping with a click of the mouse back then — you had to work the phones.

Some of my favorites on there are an Ed Belfour Chicago Blawkhawks gamer for $1500. Still pricey, but when you compare it to the $1000 an Eric Daze gamer (on page 3) went for back then, Belfour was a steal! Hard to imagine Daze had that much of an upside back in 1999, huh?

Page one had a Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Gartner jersey on sale for $1000. I wouldn’t mind having that one in the closet now.

Page six has a jersey that I actually called about back then, the 1993-94 and 1994-95 Hershey Bears Chris Winnes jerseys. Both had already sold when I called — and I’ve yet to see either turn up again on the open market. If anyone has them, yep, I’m still interested.

Download the list.

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88-89 Andy Bezeau Moncton Turbines Jersey

February 6th, 2008

This is the 1988-89 Moncton Turbines home jersey of Andy Bezeau.

Andy Bezeau was arguably the best hockey fighter pound-for-pound ever.  Unfortunately his small stature (5-9, 185) limited his chances of suiting up for an NHL team, but for those with extensive hockey knowledge, he is among the elite when it comes to racking up PIM’s.

Ranking among the likes of Gary Coupal, though with far fewer suspensions over his career, Bezeau racked up an astounding 590 penalty minutes for the Fort Wayne Komets during the 1995-96 season.  That included 36 fighting majors, 11 misconducts, and 9 game misconducts.

Two years earlier, while a member of South Carolina Sting Rays, Bezeau put up 10 goals and 10 assists in just 36 games.  Those decent offensive numbers were probably why he was drafted by Boston Bruins in the 11th Round, 231st overall, in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.  Amazingly, he also spent 352 minutes in the penalty box during those 36 games.

Fittingly, he finished out his career with Boston’s affiliate playing in one game for the Providence Bruins during the 2000-01 season.  For the record, he logged 8 more penalty minutes that night.

Prior to trying out for the OHL’s Niagara Falls Thunder in 1989, Bezeau played Tier II junior hockey for the Moncton Turbines, just up the road from his native Saint John, New Brunswick.

This knit CCM jersey shows very heavy wear and the classic “general filth”.  The CCM logo on the back hem is embroidered in a blue-blue-green pattern. Numbers and crest are all sewn.  There is a velcro nameplate, but the Bezeau plate has been removed.  Size tag has also been removed, but it looks to be a size 50 or 52.

Bezeau signed the back number 1 in a thick black sharpie, but over the last decade the signature has faded out entirely. 

While very well worn, there are no customizations to the velcro-snap fight strap, but you have to remember, Bezeau was just a teenager when he wore this jersey and possibly more of an offensive player than anything else.  The stitching on the neck line is popped though, so I’m sure he took part in some of the rough stuff as well.

I originally won this jersey in the first Drop the Gloves auction in 1998 back when we still had to use telephones to participate in auctions.  The only reason I bid was because it had the Hartford Whalers color scheme.  Sad but true.

Posted in Tier II Juniors | No Comments »

03-04 Brandon Dubinsky Portland Winter Hawks Jersey

February 5th, 2008

This is the game worn 2003-04 Portland Winter Hawks home jersey of Brandon Dubinsky.

When your collection primarily focuses on the minor leagues, it isn’t often than one of your jerseys generates a lot of interest.  This is one of the more popular jerseys, of late, in my collection.

Dubinsky played in the YoungStars game a couple of weeks ago during the All-Star break and scored two goals earning the title of YoungStars Most Valuable Player.  Personally, I don’t think he’s deserved of the much of attention he’s receiving, but I’ll add to his 15 minutes of fame.

I acquired this jersey in October of 2007 from long time Winter Hawk collector Rich Schaffner.

The jersey shows pretty heavy wear. Tons of black marks all over and un-repaired holes and slices, but no repairs.  It’s a knit jersey and they tend to hold up a lot better than airkint.

It’s a size 54 and there are no customizations.  The WHL league patch is sewn on, as is the CCM logo.  On the back of the jersey, there is an American Flag patch sewn on to the back of the neck and the CHL logo is embroidered on the left side of the lower hem.

The nameplate is sewn on and is on a twill nameplate.  It is also signed in black sharpie on the back next to the number 9.

The 2003-04 season was Dubinsky’s second in the WHL and it was also his most productive.  He scored 30 goals and added 48 assists in 71 games.  The following summer, he was drafted in the second round, 60th overall, by the New York Rangers.

This jersey is in my collection because Brandon played for the Hartford Wolf Pack during the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs and during the entire 2006-07 season.

Posted in Portland Winter Hawks, Western Hockey League | No Comments »

00-01 Mike Harder Hartford Wolf Pack Jersey

February 4th, 2008

This is the 2000-01 Hartford Wolf Pack home jersey of Mike Harder.

This is my most recent acquisition; something I picked up last week in a deal with John Gannon.

Prior to joining the Wolf Pack for the 1999-2000 season, Harder put up some very respectable numbers for the Rochester Americans with 31 goals and 48 assists in 79 games.  The Amerks went all the way to the Calder Cup finals but fell to the Providence Bruins.

Signing with the Rangers/Wolf Pack after the season, there were high hopes for Harder, but an injury bug and centers Derek Armstrong and Ken Gernander ahead of him on the depth chart, his ice time was limited.  He managed a still respectable 18 goals and 21 assists in 56 games.

The Wolf Pack surged to the Calder Cup finals in 2000 and played against Harder’s former team, the Rochester Americans.  This time, Harder was on the victorious side.  At the Wolf Pack’s championship celebration, Harder is remembered for tearing his, then number 9, jersey off, swinging it in the air, and then remaining shirtless for the duration of the ceremonies.

Harder was back for the 2000-01 season, this time wearing this number 13 jersey, perhaps in an attempt to “forget” the previous season.  Unfortunately for Harder, with Armstrong and Gernander still in the mix, he was battling it out for a third line job.

Apparently unhappy with his ice time, he was eventually loaned midseason to the Louisville Panthers in exhange for Dave Duerden and Chris Kenady who both had limited NHL experience.

Like all 2000-01 Wolf Pack jerseys, this SP airknit set 1 jersey has the name sewn on to an airknit nameplate.  It’s a size 54 and features the Dodge Ram sponsor patch sewn on to the right hand side.  The SP logo is embroidered in white on the back hem next to the AHL’s primary logo patch.  The AHL’s lower case secondary logo patch is sewn to the back of the neck.

The jersey shows decent wear, the usual black marks on the hem and some board burns and unrepaired holes on the sleeves.  Harder wasn’t the biggest guy out there, but he wasn’t afraid of the corners either.

This is the only #13 Hartford Wolf Pack jersey in my collection.  Besides Harder, only Mike York (1998-99) and Richard Scott (2003-04) have worn the number.

Posted in American Hockey League, Hartford Wolf Pack | No Comments »

91-92 Rob Brown Hartford Whalers Jersey

January 27th, 2008

This is the 1991-92 Hartford Whalers home jersey of Rob Brown.

Brown originally came to the Whalers the previous season in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Scott Young.

Later that same year, the Whalers would make another trade with the Penguins… Yep, the one that essentially doomed the Hartford franchise and won the Pittsburgh franchise two consecutive Stanley Cups.  (basically, it was Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson for John Cullen and Zarley Zalapski)

During the 1991-92 season, Brown started the season with the Whalers and recorded a respectable 16 goals and 15 assists in 42 games, but it wasn’t the type of production he’d put up Pittsburgh and he was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks on January 24, 1992 for defenseman Steve Konroyd.

Being a 91-92 jersey, this one features the NHL’s 75th Anniversary patch that every team in the league wore.

This is the only knit Whalers jersey from the green era in my collection. All others are mesh or airknit. For the 1992-93 season, the green road jersey was abandoned in favor of a blue road jersey. Jerseys were knit in that season as well.

The Maska fly tag has Brown’s #44 penned in in black sharpie. Every single one of my Whalers game worn jerseys has this in common. The jersey is a size 52.

The jersey shows pretty heavy wear with stick marks and board burns throughout. There are a few unrepaired slices along the hem and the sleeves show some staining from Brown’s gloves. The CCM logo on the rear hem is embroidered in a blue-blue-green pattern next to the old black and orange NHL logo.

Best of all, some of the marks on the right arm and in the striping on the hem can be photomatched to Brown’s 1991-92 ProSet hockey card (card #606).

I originally acquired this jersey from Brian at the Detroit Hockey Company in the late 1990’s.

Posted in Hartford Whalers, National Hockey League | 2 Comments »

96-97 Derek Armstrong New York Islanders Jersey

January 25th, 2008

This is the 1996-97 New York Islanders home jersey of Derek Armstrong.

Army played in 50 games that season for the Islanders. At the time, it was the most NHL ice-time he’d seen in his career, having bounced up and down from the minors in the previous season.

I originally purchased this jersey from Milt Byron in the summer of 1999. By then, Derek Armstrong was the star player for the Hartford Wolf Pack. I already had one of his Hartford Wolf Pack jerseys in my collection, and added a New York Rangers Armstrong jersey courtesy of Meigray that same summer, so while leafing through one of Milt’s photocopied lists with colored stripes all over the mailing label (remember those?), the name Armstrong caught my eye.

Now, this was *way* before the Fisherman jersey gained it’s popularity — I think I paid less than $200 for this jersey.

Milt had a bunch of them at the time, and in hindsight, picking the Armstrong probably wasn’t the wisest move, but it fit my theme, and it’s still one of the jerseys in my collection that gets the most inquiries.

The jersey shows some decent wear — though most of it is on the dark areas of the sleeves and the front hem. A few unrepaired holes in the shoulder areas as well, though they are all small. No repairs.

It’s a size 52 (players weren’t all wearing tents yet in 1996), and it’s a sublimated airknit manufactured by CCM with the CCM logo embroidered in orange and navy on the right rear hem beside the old black and orange NHL logo.

A lot of people talk about how the Fisherman Isles jerseys had their crests replaced. Mine definitely shows a glue residue around the entire crest in the shape of a slightly larger version.

On that, I’d assume the crest was replaced, but quite honestly, the larger version of the crest could not have been much larger than the current one. I’m not sure why they would have bothered.

The jersey also features the Islanders 25th Anniversary patch. The four little Stanley Cups are a nice touch.

Looking at the back of the jersey, it’s no wonder this style didn’t last. The nameplates must’ve been a bear to put together, following the curve. They must’ve had an endless supply of numbers and letters on hand because each letter/number would almost have to be custom based on where it fell on the curvy wave.

This was also the first jersey in my collection where the name and numbers were that herringbone pattern type of fabric. You see it on jerseys a lot now, but back them, pretty much every team was just using plain old tackle twill.

Of all of the email I receive regarding this jersey, the one question everyone asks is if Joe McMahon’s signature is behind the crest. The answer is yes.

Joe McMahon was the Isles equipment manager at the time and often signed the insides of the jerseys behind the crest. Thinking about it, I’ll have to check my 1990-91 Jeff Finley Isles jersey for it now…

Posted in National Hockey League, New York Islanders | No Comments »

05-06 Vitali Yeremeyev Dynamo Moscow Jersey

January 22nd, 2008

A few weeks ago I added a couple of HC Dynamo Moscow jerseys to my collection.

I’d always wanted to add one of their 2005-06 jerseys because they featured a collar — much like that of a soccer jersey or the 2000 and 2001 NHL All Star jerseys for the World team.

They turn up on eBay from time to time, usually courtesy of Alex Brokhman in Ohio, but I’d never seen a player that fit my theme until fellow collector (though with much more of a Russian slant) Ron Webb showed me a couple of his most recent additions…home and road 2005-06 Dynamo Vitali Yeremeyev jerseys.

Never being one to keep his sources secret, Ron passed along the info to me to inquire about the second set jerseys. A couple of days later, I’d added a home and road just like the jerseys Ron had showed me earlier. My fourth and fifth Yeremeyev jerseys. Woo-hoo!

I think his showed a bit more wear than mine, but that’s okay since he’s more of a Russian collector than I am — he should have the set with better wear. I believe mine are from the second set based on a photomatch to a game played in January of 2006.

Anyway, during the 2005-06 season, Yeremeyev appeared in 26 games — splitting time with Sergei Zvyagin — during the shorter Superleague season and the jersey shows it. Being a goaltender, there aren’t a lot of board burns, but there is some pilling on the cuff of the sleeves and numerous puck marks on the front of the jersey.

Peculiarly, the home white jersey is a size 56 and the blue road is a size 58. Neither are marked as a goalie cut, but the sleeves are very wide, though they don’t look customized, it must be a goalie cut.

I also don’t think the lace in the neck on the home jersey is original as it appears that the white sets usually had blue laces, though not always. But I can’t find a picture of Yeremeyev with the lace in place — it’s always removed, probably because it would catch the chin of his mask on occasion.

Either way, a welcome addition to the collection as Yeremeyev suited up for 36 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack during the 2000-01 season — his only complete season in North America.

Posted in Dynamo Moscow, Russian Super League | 1 Comment »

01-02 Brad Smyth Hartford Wolf Pack Jersey

January 14th, 2008

It’s funny how things work out sometimes.

I’m not sure when it happened, exactly, but at some point I decided to focus my collection of getting at least one jersey from each style that the Hartford Wolf Pack have worn.One style that had eluded me was one of the alternate sets that they gave away as a “Shirt off the Back” promotion. It was the 2001-02 5th Anniversary jersey.

A few years ago, one surfaced on the market and if I’d had the money at the time, I would have bought it. A fellow from Australia had a Kevin Hilton jersey — not exactly my first choice of player as he only played one game for the Wolf Pack, and only warmed-up once in the alternate, but it was the first to come along on the open market.

Then, roughly a year ago, another collector offered up a Layne Ulmer 5th Anniversary alternate. The price tag was $535. Hmmmm… Ulmer was a regular for the Wolf Pack for a few seasons, so that part was attractive, but the price tag was just too much. I knew I’d kick myself later for letting it get away, like the Hilton, but I just couldn’t justify such a hefty price tag.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. Another one popped up on the forum! This time it was Vicky Gould offering up what she called a “Wolf Pack 5th Anny Jersey” for a fair price. No mention of player name.

I was skeptical, at first, having seen some collectors call every jersey from that season a “5th Anniversary” jersey because of a little patch on the shoulder. I emailed her immediately to confirm that it was indeed the red jersey I’d been searching for.

Even better, it was a Brad Smyth jersey — a player which I now have 5 jerseys from.

Smyth is one of the bigger stars in team history (all-time scoring leader) and that specific season, he played in all but one game so even this infrequently used alternate shows some wear.

In a matter of 15 minutes we closed the deal. A sum of cash her way, an envelope full of stinky polyester headed my way. Mmmm…

Posted in American Hockey League, Hartford Wolf Pack | No Comments »